Administrative & LegalQuestion 85 of 100
A patient calls and asks the medical assistant, "Do you think this rash is shingles, and should I take the antiviral my neighbor has?" How should the medical assistant respond?
a.Give a probable diagnosis based on the description
b.Tell the patient it is safe to take the neighbor's medication once
c.Recommend an over-the-counter substitute for the antiviral
d.Explain that diagnosing and prescribing are outside the medical assistant's scope, document the call, and route it to the provider
Explanation
Diagnosing conditions and recommending or authorizing medications are provider functions, so the medical assistant must document the call and forward it for the provider's decision. Offering a probable diagnosis over the phone is practicing medicine without a license. Advising a patient to take another person's prescription is both unsafe and outside any assistant's authority.
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